Kampala, Uganda: The highly anticipated elections for the NRM Youth League and Youth MP flag bearers were on Monday night postponed to Tuesday, after the polls failed to start by the time it struck midnight at Kololo Independence Grounds.
The exercise had been scheduled to elect representatives to the party’s Youth League structures, including the National Chairperson, six Regional Vice Chairpersons, General Secretary, Secretary for Finance, National Treasurer, and Publicity Secretary.
Also to be elected were flag bearers for the National Female Youth MP and the Regional Youth MP slots (Central, Northern, Eastern, and Western).
The postponement came after hours of waiting, with youth delegates stranded at Kololo as the process dragged on without commencement. Some delegates accused party officials of mismanagement and attempts at rigging, while some alleged that lists of delegates had been tampered with, and others pointed to “ghost voters” being smuggled in to tilt the outcome.
Tensions boiled over as rival camps traded accusations of ferrying supporters from across districts and even locking some delegates out of the venue as it emerged that up to six candidates in the race for various elective slots had gone missing with no whereabouts whatsoever.
“We came here at midday but up to now we have not been allowed to vote. It looks like the system has already been compromised,” said one disgruntled youth delegate from Lira.
Chants and confrontations briefly broke out before police and party marshals intervened to restore calm at around 11pm on the night.
Officials from the NRM Electoral Commission would later announce that voting would be conducted tomorrow (Tuesday) at 10:00 am. “We have decided to reschedule these elections to Tuesday at 10:00 am. We call upon all delegates to return and ensure they participate in a fair and transparent exercise,” an official announced, sending delegates to rest.
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